JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Price Target to $51.00

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) had its price objective lowered by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $52.00 to $51.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on MNST. BNP Paribas lowered their price target on Monster Beverage from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Needham & Company LLC started coverage on Monster Beverage in a report on Friday, December 6th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Argus lifted their price target on Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.53.

Monster Beverage Stock Down 0.5 %

MNST stock opened at $49.25 on Wednesday. Monster Beverage has a 52 week low of $43.32 and a 52 week high of $61.22. The company has a current ratio of 3.13, a quick ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market cap of $47.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.74. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $50.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.99.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.65, for a total transaction of $526,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 74,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,944,748.60. This represents a 11.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 7.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Monster Beverage

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake in Monster Beverage by 6.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,742,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,760,341,000 after purchasing an additional 2,168,379 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 27,142,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,416,048,000 after buying an additional 1,229,789 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 109.3% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 22,559,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,176,913,000 after buying an additional 11,779,162 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,112,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $897,012,000 after acquiring an additional 1,383,914 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Monster Beverage by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,590,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $451,543,000 after acquiring an additional 734,406 shares during the period. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Monster Beverage Company Profile

Monster Beverage Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in development, marketing, sale, and distribution of energy drink beverages and concentrates in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Monster Energy Drinks, Strategic Brands, Alcohol Brands, and Other.